Proverbs 6 says to sluggards to study the ant. Why? Ants are diligent to provide for their needs. Verse 8 says that they gather in the summer to store up for the winter.

I am in a battle. I have some scouter-ants looking to break the code that would allow them free access into my kitchen. I have to be diligent to find the beginning of their trail. Right now it seems to be coming from my electrical outlet.

I leave the room and come back to find a new scouter roaming my countertop. There is no food in that area, but they haven’t given up. They are determined to find something to report back to their hill that they have found provision.

As I watch, I am reminded of James 1:14 which basically says that If there are no unresolved issues, then there is nothing to entice with. It is the hidden: buried pain, root of bitterness, or unconfessed sinful lusts. That is what arises from within when we are tempted to sin. The hidden attracts and fuels the temptation.

Jesus said in John 14:30 that satan was coming, but he had NO hold on Him. Do you have things hidden that allow you to be caught in satan’s temptation-trap?

1 John 1:9 says that the hidden is removed through confession. When we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive us, and to cleanse us.

Many years ago, in youth group, I learned this definition of an excuse: a skin of reason wrapped around a lie. There is no excuse to sin. It is always a choice. Hidden sin defiles us and those around us, as we will see tomorrow with Achan.